Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age

The term “Mesolithic” is made up of two words – “meso”, meaning “middle”, and “lithic”, which refers to the nature of the stone. The Mesolithic Period, often known as the Middle Stone Age, is a historical period that spans the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. While the Mesolithic Period began and ended at different times in different parts of the world, it lasted roughly 10,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE. Climate change happened during the Mesolithic Period, and the temperature got warmer. Variations in plants and animals were discovered, and humans could readily relocate to other locations. It lasted from around 9,000 B.C. to 4,000 B.C. in India. Mesolithic sites have been found in Rajasthan, south of the Krishna River, central and eastern India, and southern Uttar Pradesh.

Mesolithic Age

The Prehistoric Period, or when human life existed before records chronicled human behaviour, lasted around three million years and ended around 1,200 B.C. The Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age are the three archaeological periods commonly recognised.

The Stone Age is divided into three ages:

1. Palaeolithic Age – Old Stone Age.
2. Monolithic Age – Middle Stone Age.
3. Neolithic Age – New Stone Age.

Between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic periods is the Mesolithic. John Lubbock invented the words “Palaeolithic” and “Neolithic” in his 1865 book called the Prehistoric Times. The term “Mesolithic” was added as a middle phase later in 1866 by Hodder Westropp. The Mesolithic Age, also known as the Middle Stone Age, was the period following the Stone Age. Microliths, which were little bladed stone tools, were used throughout this period.

Characteristics of the Mesolithic Age

Agriculture and Settlement

• The emergence of permanent communities was encouraged by the development of agriculture during the Mesolithic Period
• Some Mesolithic people continued to hunt intensively, while others began to practise domestication. Mesolithic communities ranged from hut villages to walled cities
• The greatest far-reaching discoveries made during the Mesolithic and New Stone Ages were new means of obtaining sustenance
• Man learnt to tame animals so that they would be nearby when he needed meat, in addition to hunting and collecting. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were among the animals that man learnt to tame
• The bow and arrow were created late in the Mesolithic Period and were used by hunters and warriors until the 14th century A.D., when the firearm took their place
• Wild dogs and jackals are thought to have been attracted to human settlements during the Middle Stone Age. They proved valuable to men in terms of hunting and property protection

Holocene Era

• The Mesolithic, also known as the Middle Stone Age, is a pre-farming cultural period that began at the start of the Holocene Era around 9500 B.C., characterised by hunter-gatherer cultures
• The end of the Mesolithic and start of the Neolithic are marked by the invention or introduction of new technologies, agriculture, and animal domestication. It happened in Europe about 7000 BC. Agriculture and animal domestication in the Netherlands, particularly in the southern half of the country, began around 5300 BC

Changes in India during the Mesolithic Age

• Microliths were Mesolithic tools smaller in size, with better finishing, and more geometric than Palaeolithic tools. These microliths are little tools that range in length from one to five cm and are manufactured by sharpening one or more sides with a severe retouch
• Food production became an essential aspect of Mesolithic life as domesticated crops and animals gradually found their way into human life
• Adamgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Bagor in Rajasthan have been revealed as the oldest evidence of animal domestication
• Rice cultivation and pig domestication were presumably completed in the same period in the humid plains ranging from the middle Ganga valley to China and Southeast Asia because rice and pigs existed in the wild form in this region
• The favourable temperature, greater rainfalls, warmer environment, and greater food security resulted in a shift from nomadism to seasonally stationary habitation and population growth
• People colonised the Ganga plains during the Mesolithic phase in India
• The first trace of deliberate burial of the deceased dates back to the Mesolithic Era. Bagor in Rajasthan, Langhnaj in Gujarat, Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, and other Mesolithic human burial sites have been discovered

Conclusion

The ‘Mesolithic Age’ evidence in India is both qualitatively and quantitatively more substantial than the Stone Age’s preceding era, the Palaeolithic Age. These businesses have endured at least from dawn to early historical times in some locations, demonstrating a transition from Palaeolithic to more advanced industry types. Like Europe, Africa, and portions of Asia, India saw a major climate shift near the end of the Palaeolithic epoch, significantly impacting how people lived.